Design of a Micro-Scale Deployable Unmanned Aerial Vehicle

ALIOTO, V., BUTTITTA, J., EPPS, A., NGUYEN, D-B., YAHAGHI, A., MOURTOS, N.J.
Aerospace Engineering
San Jos State University
One Washington Square, San Jose, California, 95192-0087
United States of America
njmourtos@sjsu.edu www.engr.sjsu.edu/nikos/

Abstract: Small unmanned aerial vehicles that can be deployed from a tube have a wide range of potential
uses, from military reconnaissance to interplanetary exploration. The primary benefits of such designs are
stowability and the potential to deploy via mechanisms such as artillery shells, sonar buoy tubes, rockets,
and interplanetary probes. The design of a micro-scale, autonomous, unmanned aerial vehicle, deployed
from a cylindrical container is presented. The integration of elements unique to deployable aircraft, such
as folding control surfaces, retractable empennage, and inflatable wings are explored. The focus point is
the design of a small glider with the ability to deploy from a container with a diameter of 5.5 inches and a
length of 10.5 inches. These dimensions were chosen to match the payload bay of an ARLISS high
power rocket.

Key-Words: Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, Aircraft Design

1. Introduction states that the vehicle must deploy from the

payload bay of a rocket at 10,500 ft AGL and
This paper presents the design of an Autonomous
navigate autonomously to a set of GPS coordinates
Tube-Deployable Aerial Vehicle (ATDAV) to
no more than 1 mile from the launch site. The
participate in the ARLISS Comeback Program.
aircraft should be able to land within a circle of
ARLISS (A Rocket Launch for International
radius 25 yards surrounding the coordinates.
Student Satellites) is a cooperative venture
These requirements necessitate the construction of
between Stanford University and AeroPac, a
an aircraft that is not only flight-capable, but can
regional amateur rocketry group. Students design
also be compressed into a small space. Most of the
rocket payloads to perform various tasks such as
design decisions revolve around fitting the aircraft
collecting atmospheric data or communicating with
into the rocket cylinder and the ability to transition
the ground via radio. In the Comeback Program,
to flight upon deployment. The uncertain nature of
teams must design a vehicle capable of navigating
the weather at the time of launch requires that the
independently to a target. Before being placed
aircraft be able to operate in a wide range of wind
inside the rocket, the vehicle is given a set of
conditions, requiring a high maximum airspeed to
coordinates, to which it must travel after being
penetrate fast winds. This conflicts with the
ejected from the rocket at altitude. The focus of
requirement that landing speed should be low to
the paper is the configuration design of the aircraft
allow the autopilot to accurately place the aircraft
as well as the unique deployment capabilities it
in the required landing area. The mission
requires.
requirements do not require a very maneuverable
aircraft. The rocket is limited to a payload of
approximately 10 lbs, however the practical
2. Mission Specification limitation on the weight of the aircraft will be far
The design requirements for the ATDAV are based less.
on the ARLISS Comeback competition, which

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3. A Look at Similar Aircraft wings in either full or partial-span configurations
as a method of maximizing the potential wingspan
While not commonplace, deployable aircraft do
that can be reasonably stowed.
exist for various applications. One of the simpler
When compared with other gliders, the
types is the steering parafoil, which can be
ATDAV will be aerodynamically similar to so-
deployed like a parachute and guided to a target.
called slope soarers, unpowered radio controlled
Small parafoils, however, are very sensitive to
airplanes that are designed to fly on the windward
weather conditions and do not have the
side of hills. Such models take advantage of the
performance of a fixed wing airplane. Traditional
rising air that occurs as it is forced over the hill.
designs for stowable and deployable aircraft utilize
Because these aircraft are designed to operate in
primarily mechanical designs, such as folding
high wind conditions, they typically have a
wings. However, surfaces that fold incur penalties
moderate to high wing loading and a smaller
in the form of weight and complexity with each
wingspan when compared to other gliders. A
additional fold. Further reducing the stowed
number of aircraft of various sizes, both
volume requires an increasing number of joints.
deployable and non-deployable, are shown in
More advanced designs often incorporate inflatable
Table 1.

Table 1 Selected data of similar aircraft

Weight Wingspan Wing Wing loading
(lb) (ft) area (in2) (oz/in2)
Dynaflite BOT Radio control sailplane 2.55 9 1070 0.04
Mistral - heavy Radio control slope glider 9.79 9 1066 0.15
Big Blue Research 17.6 6 850 0.33
ILC Apteron Inflatable flying wing 7.04 4.8 574 0.20
Shuriken Slope Radio control slope glider 3.10 4.56 360 0.14
GLOV Reconnaissance UAV 39.6 4.5 372 1.71
RQ-11 Miniature reconnaissance UAV 4.18 3.9 292 0.23
SkyFly 2 Radio control electric airplane 1.21 3 186 0.10
Wasp III Miniature reconnaissance UAV 0.95 2.22 176 0.09

4. Configuration Selection the fuselage (Figure 1). The T-tail was chosen so
An early rendering of the configuration of the that the horizontal stabilizer sections are able to
ATDAV is shown in Figure 1. One of the primary fold down past the tailboom, thereby maximizing
design challenges for this vehicle is the their size. Inflatable wings are used to maximize
requirement to fit into a small container. To the deployed span for a given stowed size. High
accomplish this, the empennage is attached to a wings and dihedral will provide inherent roll
retractable tailboom, allowing it to collapse into stability.

Figure 1 Early rendering of the ATDAV in stowed and deployed configurations.

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5. Fuselage Design and as a result the fuselage must contain a housing
for the spring and tailboom assembly. These parts
Figure 2 shows details of the fuselage exterior,
will be made of rolled fiberglass and carbon fiber
while Figure 3 shows the internal layout of the
tubes designed to mate together in order to provide
fuselage. The main constraint for the fuselage is
the tailboom with a maximum amount of rigidity.
the overall size. The collapsed aircraft needs to fit
The fuselage must be large enough to contain the
in a standardized ARLISS deployment tube. This
autopilot, receiver, an inflation system for the
tube has an inside diameter and length of 5.5 and
wings, and a significant amount of ballast to adjust
10.5 inches, respectively. The inflatable wings
the center of gravity to its optimal location. The
will be rolled and placed alongside the fuselage
inflation system consists of a CO2 cartridge and
inside of the cylinder. This empennage will be
other items that are explained below.
situated on a boom, which will be spring-loaded to
allow automatic deployment in midair,

Figure 2 Side and rear view of the fuselage (all dimensions in inches)

Figure 3 Internal layout of the fuselage

efficiency and a slow landing speed. From these

6. Wing Design requirements, as well as its history in inflatable
wing designs, the Eppler 398 airfoil was selected.
6.1 Airfoil Selection The drag of this airfoil is rather high. However,
The airfoil must combine a moderate lift-to-drag the mission range is only one mile from a
ratio (L/D) with a high maximum lift coefficient deployment altitude of over 10,000 ft AGL, hence
(CLmax) to provide a balance between cruise cruise efficiency is not critical. In fact, the higher

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drag will facilitate a steeper descent towards the the amount of dihedral and create stability
target landing area. On the other hand, the problems. The internal pressure provided by the
ATDAV cannot use high lift devices due to its inflation system should provide enough rigidity to
inflatable wing design, hence an airfoil with a high keep this twisting to a minimum. Unlike
clean CLmax is imperative. geometric twist, aerodynamic twist could be
implemented in the design of an inflatable wing.
6.2 Wing Planform Selection This, however, would be limited by the ability of
Unlike most gliders, our wing planform is the PVC fabric membrane to cover the compound
untapared, as we wish to obtain the largest wing curves introduced by such a design. The ATDAV
area for a given span. Although it is not desirable, wing was designed with neither geometric nor
our flexible wing may have some twist as a result aerodynamic twist.
of the aerodynamic forces acting on it. The
inflatable wing design makes it impossible to 6.3. Dihedral Angle
incorporate geometric twist as a design feature. If The aircraft is inherently stable in roll due to its
the wing is designed with washin (tips up), the tips high wing configuration. Based on designs of
will operate at higher lift coefficients and as a similar aircraft, a dihedral angle of about 7 is used
result, they may deflect upwards. Conversely, if to further increase the roll stability. The easiest
the wing is designed with washout (tips down) the way to incorporate a dihedral in inflatable wings is
tips may unload during flight and deflect a moderate deflection of the wing beginning at the
downwards. Either type could cause unwanted roots.
amounts of tip deflection, and downward
deflection caused by negative twist could reduce

Figure 4 Front view of the aircraft showing 7 of dihedral.

6.4 Inflatable Wing Design and stiffness to the wing. The ILC Dover and
The most technically challenging component of the Vertigo Inc. wings are similarly constructed of
ATDAV is the procurement of an appropriate set multiple tubular cells, which when inflated provide
of inflatable wings. Two companies in the United the wing with shape and rigidity. The wings
States produce inflatable wings small enough for constructed by ILC Dover have a number of bumps
use in unmanned aircraft: ILC Dover [1] and running longitudinally down the wing as a result of
Vertigo Inc. [2]. These wings are designed for the internal construction (Figure 5). As shown in
UAVs larger than the ATDAV and cost Figure 6, the bumpy profile improves aerodynamic
approximately $5,000. Building and testing two performance by reducing flow separation in the
inflatable wings using readily obtainable materials low density, high altitude conditions for which
is our preferred approach at this point. This these wings are designed [3].
process offers an additional advantage, namely it
will allow us to modify the wing if it does not meet
the design specifications. Two inflatable wings
will be made, the first similar to those produced by
ILC Dover and Vertigo Inc., the second using a Figure 5 Cross-section of an inflatable wing,
novel method to simplify construction. such as those manufactured by ILC Dover. Shown
The first method, used in most inflatable wing is an inflatable version of the Eppler 398 airfoil
aircraft, relies on inflated tubes to provide shape selected for the ATDAV.

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Figure 6 Wind tunnel testing of an ideal (left) and inflatable (right) Eppler 398 airfoil. The bumpy
inflatable airfoil is experiencing less flow separation than the ideal airfoil [3].

The inflatable wings manufactured by Vertigo shape. The sections where the vinyl was sealed
Inc. are built with the same internal structure as the remained airtight. The problem encountered with
ILC Dover wings but lack the bumpy surface due adhering the foam to the membrane may be
to their more complex construction. The tubular correctable through the use of a different adhesive
spars are covered with collapsible open cell foam, or technique.
which is then covered with a nylon fabric outer
shell. This allows the wings to be collapsible but
with a smooth surface at the cost of an additional
layer of fabric and foam.
A novel design being considered for the Figure 7 A novel design idea that will be tested
ATDAV wing may allow a simpler manufacturing for use in the ATDAV inflatable wings.
process that is more suited to the small size of the
ATDAV wings (Figure 7). Open cell foam is cut
to the shape of the airfoil using a hot wire device. 6.5 Inflation System Design
This foam becomes the core of the wing and is A cylinder of compressed CO2 inside the fuselage
adhered to PVC fabric, which is sealed with vinyl connected to a common manifold will inflate both
cement and heat. The purpose of the foam core is wings upon deployment. A reliable method to
to provide the tensile force necessary to allow the trigger inflation is required. To this end, the
wing to maintain its shape when pressurized. RouseTech CD3 device [4] has been selected, that
Because this design only requires the use of a uses a small pyrotechnic charge to puncture a
single large chamber, it appears well suited for gasket in a CO2 canister. This device is typically
small wing designs where multi-chamber used to deploy parachutes for rockets at altitude.
construction would require tiny diameters for the Minimal modification will allow the gas to be
smaller tubes. Additionally, this design allows for directed into the manifold for the inflatable wings.
a smooth airfoil without the increased complexity
of the Vertigo Inc. approach. Disadvantages of 6.6 Lateral Control System
this design are reduced rigidity, especially in Lateral control surfaces (ailerons) are used to bank
torsion, due to the loss of internal structure. This the airplane by creating a rolling moment about the
may not pose as much of a problem with the small fuselage. For many small model gliders this is
and slow ATDAV as it might with a larger, faster deemed unnecessary due to the coupling between
aircraft. A prototype of this wing type was built the yaw created by an appropriately sized rudder
with partial success. The foam core was and the roll created by the wing dihedral. One
successfully cut from a sheet of open cell foam, additional reason in favor of this design is the fact
and the PVC fabric adhered to it and sealed. Upon that inflatable wings are extremely hard to
inflation, however, the foam partially delaminated manufacture with control surfaces. Successful
from the membrane, causing the wing to lose its designs involve methods to warp the wings but this

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 adds undesirable complexity for a small design coefficients for the horizontal and vertical
such as the ATDAV. Our design forgoes direct stabilizers.
roll control and uses instead control surfaces on the A parametric study of the aircraft shown in
empennage to provide directional control. Table 1 led to our choice of Vv = 0.20 and Vh =
0.26, while Figure 8 shows that Xv = Xh = 13 in.
From our wing design presented earlier, S = 180
7. Empennage Design in2, b = 36 in, and c = 5 in. Using these values in
Equations (1), Sh and Sv are calculated to be 18 in2
7.1 Sizing and 9.72 in2 respectively. To fit inside the
deployment tube, the span of the horizontal
The tail volume coefficient method was used to
stabilizer must be 9 in, leading to a chord of 2 in.
size the empennage [5]:
Setting the chord length of the vertical stabilizer to
2 in, the span of the vertical stabilizer is calculated
Vh Sc Vv Sb at 4.86 in.
Sh = Sv =
Xh Xv (1)
7.2 Longitudinal and Directional Controls
where S, Sh, and Sv are the wing, horizontal, and To maintain simplicity and maximize longitudinal
vertical areas; Xh and Xv are the distances of the control, especially with a short tailboom, a free-
horizontal and vertical aerodynamic centers from flying stabilator design was selected. The vertical
the wing leading edge; b is the wingspan and c is stabilizer has a conventional rudder, hinged at 50%
the wing chord; Vh and Vv are the volume of the chord.

Figure 8 Aircraft dimensions used in the sizing of the empennage.

determines the minimum amount of ballast for a

8. Weight and Balance Analysis 10% static margin, a requirement we set for
A ballast is necessary to improve performance in acceptable longitudinal static stability [5].
high wind conditions and to properly balance the The reference line is placed at a distance of
aircraft. A heavy ballast is usually indicative of a 10% (0.5 inches), in front of the wing aerodynamic
poor design. However, for our aircraft balance is a center (quarter chord point). The ballast is
secondary concern compared to the requirement calculated such that the moment about this point is
for stowability. The calculation in this section zero. Table 2 shows the various components of the

6
aircraft along with their weights and moment arms Table 2 Aircraft component weights and their
from the reference line. The minimum ballast respective moment arms
required is calculated at 0.75 lbs, which results in a Weight Distance
minimum aircraft weight of 2.54 lbs. The location Component (lbs) (in)
of the aircraft center of gravity as a function of Ballast ? -3.25
ballast weight is plotted in Figure 9. Futaba R114F Receiver 0.025 -1.25
Futaba S3108 Servos 0.04 11.5
Battery 0.1 -1.25
Fuselage 0.23 -0.75
Tail Boom 0.09 0.63
Horizontal Stabilizer 0.06 13.5
Wings + Inflation System 1.2 0.75
Vertical Stabilizer 0.04 13.5

30
ApproximateStatic
Margin(%MAC)

20
10
0
10 0 0.5 1 1.5
20
Ballast(lbs)

Figure 9 Center of gravity travel as ballast is increased from 0 to 1.5 lbs.

be determined from the difference between the two

9. Drag Analysis lines. To meet our requirement of a 10% static
The drag coefficient of the glider is broken down margin (measured as a percentage of the wing
as follows: chord) the area of the horizontal stabilizer must be
approximately 14 in2.
CD = CD wing + CD fus + CD emp (2)

The wing, fuselage, and empennage drag 11. Conclusion

coefficients were calculated to be 0.0277, 0.0828, This paper has demonstrated the plausibility of
and 0.0117, respectively giving a total drag constructing a deployable unmanned aerial vehicle.
coefficient of CD = 0.122. This is a relatively high While the avionics necessary to complete the
value, however, as mentioned earlier, it is mission are not discussed in this paper, a variety of
appropriate for the mission of the ATDAV. off-the-shelf autopilots designed for lightweight
aircraft is available in the market. Some of the
10. Longitudinal Stability Analysis more advanced models have an automatic landing
To determine the change in static margin as a phase functionality, which would be essential for
function of the horizontal stabilizer size, the center meeting our mission requirements. The aircraft
of gravity and the aerodynamic center locations for weight is substantially higher than similarly sized
the glider are plotted as functions of the horizontal designs, however most similarly sized aircraft are
stabilizer area in Figure 10. The static margin can not designed to operate in the wide range of wind

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conditions the ATDAV is likely to encounter. The equipment, such as a larger autopilot or a camera
large amount of weight in the front of the aircraft, system.
currently ballast, could be replaced with additional

40
35
Position(%MAC)

30
25
20 CG
15 AC
10
5
0
0 5 10 15 20 25
AreaofHorizontalStabilizer(in2)
Figure 10 Longitudinal X-plot, showing the locations of the center of gravity and the aerodynamic
center as functions of the horizontal stabilizer area.

References:
[1] ILC Dover, URL:
<http://www.ilcdover.com/products/aerospace_
defense/uavwings.htm>, retrieved Apr. 11,
2009.
[2] Vertigo Inc., URL:
<http://www.vertigo-inc.com/info/>, retrieved
April 11, 2009.
[3] Jacob, J. D. and Smith, S.W., Expanding the
Small UAV Design Space with Inflatable
Wings, Society of Automotive Engineers, Inc
07ATC-217, 2007.
[4] Cadogan, D., Graham, W., and Smith, T.,
Inflatable and Rigidizable Wings for UAVs,
American Institute of Aeronautics and
Astronautics, AIAA 2003-6630, 2003.
[5] Rockam, J., Airplane Design Part II:
Preliminary Configuration Design and
Integration of the Propulsion System,
DARcorpation, Lawrence, Kansas 2004,
pp. 237-280.
[6] Rockam, J., Airplane Design Part VII:
Determination of Stability, Control &
Performance Characteristics: FAR and
Military Requirements, DARcorpation,
Lawrence, Kansas, 2006, pp. 185-285.